Super-Posh Chewy Cookies

Lovely people, let me tell you now, there are a lot of recipes out there that jostle for the title of 'World's Best Cookie'. And a lot of them are probably very worthy winners. This recipe however, for me, stands firmly above the rest, holding the belt high - the undefeated champion of champions, for oh so many reasons...

Super-Posh Chewy Cookies

Just look at them, they have everything don't they!? Cherries, almonds, two types of chocolate, vanilla, and that naughty little splash (Ok, glug) of cherry brandy. The recipe is originally from The Hairy Bikers, I found it many years ago on my quest for a great chewy cookie recipe. There were a couple of steps that didn't quite work for me, so I have adapted it slightly here in both the ingredients and method. That said, thank you to Dave and Simon for bringing these incredible cookies into my life!

Warning: There is a high risk that a large amount of the cookie dough will be consumed before you get around to baking it...

Ingredients (makes approx 20 medium sized cookies)

100g golden caster sugar

100g unsalted butter

2 tbsp sunflower or vegetable oil

100g soft brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 large free range egg

200g plain flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

100g glace cherries

2 tbsp cherry brandy

100g white chocolate chips

100g dark chocolate chips

75g chopped almonds or hazelnuts

Method

Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees, and lightly grease a large baking sheet.

In a large bowl, cream together the golden caster sugar and butter. Beat well until pale, light and fluffy.

Add the sunflower oil and brown sugar, and beat well again until well combined.

Add the vanilla extract and the egg, and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift the flour, add the baking powder and salt and mix together. Add the dry ingredients to the mixture, and fold in, mixing to form a dough.

Chop the glace cherries into quarters, and add to the mixture, along with the cherry brandy. Stir well, so that the brandy is evenly distributed through the dough. The dough should now be quite loose and sticky, but holding its shape. 

Add the chocolate and the nuts, and stir through again so they are evenly distributed. 

Take a large spoonful of the mixture, form it into a ball, and place it on the baking sheet. Press down with the back of a spoon to flatten the ball. Repeat until the tray is full, leaving 1-2 inches between each cookie, as they will spread. 

Bake in the oven for 8-12 minutes. The cookies should be a golden brown colour, and a little darker around the edges when you take them out, but, and this is important, they should still be soft to the touch. The heat in the cookies will continue to cook them when they are out of the oven, so if they are hard when they come out, they will only harden further and lose their chewiness. 

Leave the cookies to cool on the tray for 5-10 minutes, until they are hard to touch. Lift them off then using a pallet knife, and place them on a tray to cool completely. 

You may need to bake these in batches, I only have one large baking sheet, so it normally takes me three batches to use all of the cookie dough. Inevitably, at least one of the cookies from batch one has disappeared before batch three make it off the baking sheet... 

What is the best cookie recipe you have ever found? Would love it if you would share the link in the comments box below..

V x